The 19th century Soham House still retains many of its original details

A grand old English country house that’s steeped in British horse racing history and lore is now on the market, listed with Cheffins.

“It’s a very large house with attractive, Gothic-style features,” said Cheffins director Richard Freshwater. And, he said, “it has good-sized manageable gardens.”

Known as Soham House, the house on Snailwell Road in Newmarket was commissioned by the Johnstone family in 1892, as a country home for entertaining guests from London for the frequent horse races in town.

In 1910, the Newmarket house was bought by Lord Queenborough, said to be the richest man in England at the time. He married New York high society doyenne Pauline Payne Whitney, whose family has been one of the biggest horse racing dynasties in the United States since the late 19th century.

Their daughter, Dorothy Wyndham Paget, was one of the world’s most prolific racehorse owners–her horses won 1,532 races and she was worth £100 million when she died in 1960.

Paget lived in Soham House most of her life and after her death it was purchased by the Horse Racing Forensic Laboratories (now known as the LGC Group). They converted many of the rooms into offices and laboratories to perform research for owners and trainers about horseracing and drug testing. Princess Anne was known to have visited the offices in 1970, and her mother, Queen Elizabeth, regularly visits the town to see her horses in training.

The property was converted back into a house in 1997, before it was purchased by the current owners, Robert and Tracy Barratt, in 2001.

Many of the original features have been retained, including a magnificent carved oak staircase with a number of elaborate carvings and finials, vast fireplaces and extensive wooden paneling.

The ground floor includes a vaulted, double-height reception hall, a billiards room with original paintings and a marble fireplace, a drawing room, a family dining room, a sitting room and a kitchen with a separate utility and children’s playroom.

“The best thing about this house is that it really is a family home,” Mr. Barratt said. “It has an incredibly homely feel and has been fantastic for bringing up our daughters.”

The house is particularly good for entertaining, he said. “The best thing during parties or entertaining is that everyone can go and find their own spot, whether that’s a game in the billiards room or have a go on the piano in the sitting room.”

Christmases in the house have been particularly enchanting, Mr. Barratt said, with more than 20 people sleeping over, a vast dining table in the reception hall and a 15-foot Christmas tree.

Soham House would be considered late Victorian, Mr. Freshwater said, with strong influences from the Arts and Crafts movement. The façade is soft red brick with elaborate stone-mullioned windows. A sweeping driveway with an ornate stone fountain sits in front.

“The house is in good order, but would benefit from a makeover,” Mr. Freshwater said.

The house has seven bedrooms and five bathrooms spread over two floors, with just over 6,000 square feet of living space. Three bedrooms on the second floor are currently used as home offices. The house sits on 1.15 acres of mature grounds.

Design Pedigree

Soham House was designed by C. J. Harold Cooper, one of the most prominent architects in the Arts and Crafts Movement, who was responsible for a number of important buildings, including Green Park House in Mayfair and 1a Palace Gate in Kensington.

“It has a number of decent rooms in the cellar, with many possibilities,” Mr. Freshwater said. There is now a wine cellar and silver room in the basement.

There is a substantial garage block with three large garages and a cart lodge, all with power and light. The private and well-landscaped mature grounds are enclosed by boarded wooden fencing and a brick wall to the front and side. The gardens feature lawns, mature specimen trees including cedar, copper beach and limes, well stocked flower and shrub beds, a large paved terrace and outside lighting.

Neighborhood Notes

Newmarket is the largest race horse training and breeding center in Britain and home to most major British horseracing institutions.

And it’s still a good investment, Mr. Freshwater said, with property prices rising in line with Cambridge while offering more value for the money than some other surrounding locations.

“Snailwell Road is toward the outskirts of Newmarket,” Mr. Freshwater said. “There is a good school near the end of the road, and lots of substantial houses nearby.”

Newmarket is 13 miles from Cambridge and easily accessed from London via the M11. Newmarket also has a train station with services to Cambridge where trains run to London Liverpool Street or Kings Cross in about 40 minutes.